Proposed changes to NJ law raise concern December 2005

An amendment proposed to New Jersey’s massage-therapy law has raised concerns among some therapists and bodyworkers. New legislation aims to make certification mandatory and defines anyone practicing massage without the credential as a prostitute.

Assembly Bill 4034 would replace the current title-protection act, which requires anyone using certain protected titles to be certified with the state, with a practice act, which would require anyone practicing massage, bodywork or other somatic therapies to be certified. It also states that if massage is performed by anyone without the proper credential, then the business “shall give rise to the permissive inference that the premises, place or resort was conducted or maintained as a house of prostitution.”

According to an article posted on NorthJersey.com, the state has been inundated with houses of prostitution posing as massage parlors. Three legislators introduced the new amendment without input from the state’s massage-and-bodywork community, to try to stem the proliferation of these illicit businesses.

“It won’t work,” says Rena Margulis, who practices Asian bodywork therapies. “You can require people to become state certified but it won’t stop brothels in the least.”

For more information about the proposed amendment, log on to the Tri-State Holistic Health Association’s Web site, www.yourhealthmatters2us.org.

— Kelle Walsh

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Update                                                        January 2005
Certification of New Jersey’s massage therapists and bodyworkers began in November, roughly four years after the state passed its certification act. Controversial prohibitions on performing manual lymph drainage and the movement of internal organs were lifted from the final version of regulations. A general rule against treating illness, disease, impairment or disability was added.

The act requires massage therapists to be certified by the Massage, Bodywork and Somatic Therapy Examining Committee in order to use titles affiliated with massage and bodywork.

To gain certification, one must pass an exam from either the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) or the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM); or complete 507 hours of massage education.

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New Jersey Proposes Rules                           January 2004
The Massage, Bodywork and Somatic Therapy Examining Committee of New Jersey has developed a set of proposed rules to govern practitioners under the certification act that passed into law in 1999.

“The committee has been meeting throughout 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 to create the regulation,” said Jeff Lamm, spokesperson for the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. “This is basically a process of building an entire regulatory framework.”

Under the Massage, Bodywork and Somatic Therapist Certification Act, New Jersey massage, bodywork and somatic therapists may choose to be regulated if they wish to use any of the designated titles listed in the proposed rules. An active certificant may use the titles “massage, bodywork and somatic therapist”; “registered massage, bodywork and somatic therapist”; “certified massage, bodywork and somatic therapist”; “massage and bodywork therapist”; “certified massage and bodywork therapist”; “certified Oriental bodywork therapist”; “certified Asian bodywork therapist”; or “certified massage therapist.”

In order to gain certification, therapists would have to pass an exam from either the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) or the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM); or complete 507 hours of education, including 100 hours of anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology; six hours in ethics; six hours in law regarding practice; 225 hours of theory and practice, 100 hours of clinical practice; and 70 hours of electives pertaining to the practice of massage, bodywork and somatic therapy.

A grandfather period of 720 days from the effective date of the regulations would allow applicants to be certified if they have at least 200 hours of education and training and have practiced full-time for the last two years or part-time for the last five years.